Secondly, the agent wants to know you understandthe technical demands of working on camera, as well as how to navigate the variety of scripts and genres…so that they can feel confident submitting you for work. Make sure you have a great headshot, which looks like you and tells a story. The very best headshots reveal something specific about YOUR personality. Make your cover letter, short, specific and upbeat. Ambition in the industry to an agent is sexy! Referrals can help. If you are working with an actor someone you like and trust and respect , and if they are working with an agency you also like and respect, a referral of you to their agent would probably go a long way.
And remember…. Breathe, relax and enjoy your own path! Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Often they are actors who make work, or who are constantly learning. I hear from actors every day trying to get agents, and so I ask to see their showreel and… nothing. They have nothing to show. The only way you will land an agent is if you can literally blow them away. They have to flick open an email and watch 30 seconds of your work and be reaching for the phone.
Is your headshot natural, but captivating? Is your showreel simple, professional, and revealing? Can the agent clearly get a sense of the kind of actor you are and feel excited by the work? More on How to Get an Acting Agent. This is the point that is only just beginning to become clear. You could be a motivated, hardworking and talented actor, gosh you could even be gorgeous and still not get any traction with top agents. This is because you have no momentum. One simple solution is getting a recommendation from an industry professional like a casting director or an established actor.
Another way is to contact agents whilst your working on a project. If you can get them along to a show, or get them to see your latest episode, you will immediately have some heat. They see you in your element and want to be apart of what is already happening. If an agent feels like they have to do all the work, you are less likely to be taken on. They want to know that you already have traction and can piggyback off your contacts as well as theirs.
So go get in a show, write it yourself if you have to, build that experience and watch the momentum contagion begin. So yes, getting an top acting agent, let alone any acting agent, is difficult. But, such is life. If you persevere you will eventually land an acting agent that works for you. What would you like to dedicate the next 3 months of your life to? Wallowing around, waiting for a response from an email or for the phone to ring?
Or is it getting new headshots , reading 8 plays a week , recording a self-tape every month, doing some acting classes and writing a short film? Work hard, and then be patient. Does Your Showreel Suck? Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Share Some boutique agencies might have just agents working at the company.
Larger companies might have hundreds of agents! Read their bios and see who aligns with you most closely. You can also google their name to check out their social media accounts and see if they've been featured in any videos or articles. Looking through all this ahead of time will not only tell you whether they're a good fit, but can give you a great ice breaker for your cover letter. Create a list of about 20 agents you want to target 10 should be "first choice" and 10 should be "second choice" , and then reach out to people in your network to see if anyone knows any of those agents.
You can ask other actors, teachers, or even your family members if they know them, and if they do, you can ask for an introduction! Referrals will be huge in getting responses. You're only going to be contacting the 20 agents you came up with in your list.
Because you want each person you contact to get a great, personalized cover letter from you. Your cover letter is critical and will determine whether they ever look past it to see your headshot and materials. Here are two fantastic free cover letter templates that have gotten many actors positive responses from agents. Counterintuitively, I recommend contacting your second choices first. Because you can see whether they respond and then make some tweaks and adjustments to your cover letter before reaching out to your first choices.
Basically, you're testing the water with your second choices. You can even go to interviews and auditions with them to get a sense of how things will go and get some practice. When you're eventually ready for your first choices, you'll be more prepared!
Plus you'll have some of your second choices as fall back options should your first choices decline. Here are the most important things to keep in mind when contacting agents: Follow their submissions instructions. Their website will tell you how best to get in touch, so be sure to follow those guidelines unless you're getting an email introduction from someone directly to a particular agent. If they want you to use an online submissions form, do it.
If they want you to email a particular address, do it. Avoid directly emailing an agent because if their website says not to because doing so will definitely annoy them and decrease your chances of getting a meeting.
If you know someone who knows the agent, ask for an introduction or "preframe. If submitting via email, be sure to use a simple, straightforward subject line. Just make sure you have permission to use someone's name in your email. Write a fantastic and short cover letter. Your cover letter should be personalized to the agent you are interested in Dear Margaret — not Dear Agency and it must explain why you want to work with THEM specifically.
This is where research comes in. Think — what can you use to break the ice? You can also mention names of well-known actors you've performed with or coaches you've trained with. Don't submit more than three headshots and two reels. Sending too many links or attachments can land your email in their spam box, and can also confuse them. Spell their name correctly. The simplest spelling mistake or grammatical error can cause them to think you're unprofessional or don't care, and get your submission tossed.
Follow up 5 days after submitting if you haven't heard back. Set a reminder so you don't forget to reach out a second time — you can just use their online submission form or the same email address you reached them at originally. If you don't get any responses to your submissions, you need to go back to the drawing board and check your marketing materials again. Perhaps something isn't as good as you thought it was. Another reason you might not get invited to a meeting is that the agencies' rosters are simply full.
If you submit 3 months later, you might get a response because new slots are opening all the time. As you begin reaching out to agents, some might respond saying they're not looking for new actors. If they tell you this, it's an invitation to keep them up to date on your work in the industry. You can occasionally reach out letting them know about shows you're in or new things you're doing, and eventually they might bring you in for a meeting.
A long term but more surefire way to eventually get representation is to intern at an agent's office. You'll build a strong personal relationship with them and most likely eventually get signed if you're a great actor and you ask them to consider you!
So, you've been submitting for a while, and an agent emailed you back saying they're interested in setting up a meeting. So what do you do to prepare? Well first off, don't under-prepare. You need to do your homework on the agency and make sure you're completely ready for your meeting, otherwise you'll probably lose their trust right away and never make it past the meeting.
Here are some things to keep in mind for your agent meeting: Show up on time. This should go without saying, but if you're even 2 minutes late, no excuse in the world will save you. Aim to get there super early just in case something happens. Remember — getting an agent is a HUGE opportunity. It's what will get you TONS of auditions, so treat it as importantly as you would the audition of a lifetime.
Aim to arrive an hour early and then hang out at the coffee shop across the street until your meeting time. Dress well. Don't wear something extremely specific, but do show up clean and with solid colors. Wearing professional clothing will help agents see you in a good light and assume you're responsible and easy to work with. If an agent asks you a questions about your training or experience during the interview, never lie.
They'll eventually find out and it will come back to haunt you. Bring a folder with your headshots, resume, and even a DVD copy of your reel just in case.
Chances are they won't need it, but you should have it handy if they do. You can also include a business card and a printed version of your cover letter. Prepare at least three monologues ahead of time. Most agents will require you to perform a monologue as part of the audition, so you should have three different types of monologues that you feel comfortable with. They MUST be fully memorized and should each represent a different side of you — funny, sad, and angry, for instance.
Having three different monologues memorized will give you the opportunity to do something different if they want to see a different side of you. Be aware that they might hand you a script on the spot.
If they ask you to do a cold reading, it's OK if you don't have it memorized. They just want to see how you perform and sound when reading the lines. Keep calm and carry on! Have questions prepared in advance.
They'll inevitably give you the chance to ask questions during the meeting, and if you have none prepared, it will look like you didn't do your homework ahead of time. How do you feel about me submitting myself to projects? How involved do you typically get with your clients and helping them move their careers forward? What can I do that will make your job easier if you decide to represent me?
Yes, there ARE stupid questions, regardless of what they tell you in school. You should NOT ask questions that you could have found out the answers to ahead of time by simply researching the agency.
The following questions are big red flags for agents, so do NOT ask these: Who will represent me from your agency? You should already know who you're targeting.
The only time this question is fair is if the agent you were interested in has a full roster and you might get connected with someone else. How many clients do you currently represent, and are any my type? You can easily find this information online. If anything, ask them a modified version of it to show them you did your research: I saw you currently represent actors. A few of them look similar to me, so I was wondering, how do you submit actors who are similar, or do you see me as a different type?
What kind of work have you gotten in the last six months for your clients? This is a borderline offensive question and might really annoy the agent — especially since you could have easily researched this as well. Who are you to ask what kind of work they've gotten their clients? A much better way to phrase this is, "I noticed you got some of your clients into amazing productions, including Production A, B, and C.
What are some other great gigs you're in the process of getting for your clients? If you haven't heard from them in that time, a brief followup email is recommended note the word brief.
Don't be discouraged if you don't sign with the first agent you meet with. It can take numerous attempts before you find a good fit. Getting rejected is usually due to one of two things: You look too much like other actors they represent.
As mentioned previously, agents don't like signing actors who look too similar to each other because they'll be competing for each other's roles, which creates a conflict of interest amongst their clients. You do not have enough training or experience for that agent to represent you. But this might not be the case for all agents, so keep submitting to others — someone will likely want to take you on even if someone else thinks you're not ready for representation.
Why do agents drop actors?
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